The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1887-02-13
NO PLACE FOR LITTLE WOMEN.
Nobody viii Employ Them, While Their
Zig sisters Have Fins Situations and Zig
Salaries.

Mail aud Ixrrrss.l
Few have any idea of the trials aud tribula-
tiun of cultivated women small In stature, who
seek honest employment in this city. The
little lady may he modest, pretty, neatly
dressed, afrablc in conversation and agreeable
In manner, YET almost every avenue leading Ia
respectable living is closed la her, The shop
keeper picks his female help in the spirit that
animaics him when hc makes II display of
goods In his windows. And IL must he con.
fcsscd tina, practically. If moi theoretically, he
is right 4 commanding and iine-looling
woman will sell scaskin cloak IN five eases out
of six where u little body would fail. The biz
women can cNpatiatc more grnndly on lis
merits, and by wrapping IL around her and
paradimg before mirror show It of In all It's
perfection. The little lady may hc refined gold,
but there is nothing impressive about her. Her
small stature Is misfortune that she cannot
remedy. She cannot become Il tlour-walkcrin
dry goods emporium, iOr SHE lacks the sweep
and carriage and the lorrlly aplomb which awe
employees aud attract purchasers. She has great
trouble In securing even n place behind the
counter Her fragility and tiny size are In the
way. She cannot reach the goods on u top
shelf, nor can she return them after sale is
made without climbing To The counter. which
ungraccful act would qticnch the last spark of
dignity left by nature I'd her birth. She is out
of place again in the saIlurs of n fashionable
milliner Or dressmaker- You may find her
sitting In little back room adjoining, stitching
away in bad light and worse atmosphere,
with her knees up to ller 'hin, but YOU Will
never see her in the salcs-room. "A small
woman Is out of place in Showroom
said the proprietor of q fashion warehouse,
when one of her friends sought u situation for
worthy but undersizcd lady. Il have no use
for her there. She cannot sell even pattern.
People will not 20 to her. They will hardly
ask her question. They pass her by as
though she was II chi.l. and 20 To a sales
woman more stylish and commanding One
is prominent and the other insignificant in ap-
penrance, and the prominent figure invariably
attracts attention.
place for the little lady was found in the mail
ing depart meni at 81 week. Al the same time
II tall woman of good figure, who carried her
head like Juno, neither well educated nor par
ticularly agreeable, was placed in the show.
room at SlI per week She WAS not as refined
nor as painstaking as the little one, but she had
the physique 50 highly priced by an experienced
modistc. The liitlo one toilcd ten hours day
with hardly a respite, while the big woman
walked grandly up and down the pnrlor super
intending sales and keeping everything in trim.
Petite women are rarely employed as fore
women In large business houses. Such situa-
tions are almost invariably filled by ladies of
regular figure and hautclir. y few are pretty,
some are intellectual, and less are charming.
Many are Amazons by natur, :,s well as in ap
pcaran nee. They are made m:iestic by size and
bearing alone, and are nearly destitute of feel
ing for those of smaller stature whose lines are
not cast In places SO pleasant, such forcwomcn
iToIi ~ W .'hJ ~ Ntth' ilitN tuH ht
found in every establishment where fashionable
female attire Is sold. Salaries seem to bc pro-
poriuned 10 the size Of the women employ ed,
and not on her ability. There are hundreds of
little women holding comparatively pleasant
situations. but even in these they labor under
natural disadvantages The salaries are light,
and their figures forbid promotion. The little
ones are 10 he pitcd. with warmer hearts,
kecncr intuitons, brighter iniellccts, more
knowledge of human nature aud more tact in
l l.
ness sphere remains nnrroN aud contracted.
Marriage alone can take them from the rugged
road of life and transplant them Ia the pleasant
gardens that line the way.